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Lines on a Page
Link: http://www.englewoodcitizens.org/
Say a contractor speaks to the building supervisor about a property he wishes to buy and divide. The rule states that he must have at least 60 square foot of frontage, and he only has 55.
He asks for a variance, and the City makes an off-the-cuff decision and gives it to him.
He purchases the property and demolishes the existing house and then applies his funds to architectural design and building permits. If the building permits are stamped “approved”. He is a vested holder of property rights.
A neighbor gets wind of his design and makes a stink. Too many town homes in his single-family neighborhood may affect his resale values.
The case goes to appeals, and the appeals committee determines that the Community Development Director, Alan White, made the variance decision erroneously.
The Appeals Committee fails to determine when the contractor's rights became vested. The question never comes up. Boo-hoo for the owner-contractor.
Nobody seems to understand the concept of property rights. It seems to be vote of the masses by neighborhood opinion in this home-owner-association-less hood. This is a fantastic example of democracy at work without law.
It seems in Englewood, the neighbors themselves have as much say in how the owner, who pays the purchase price, obtains a deed dictating: “to have and to hold in peaceful possession” and invests in the building project himself has. Why would anyone ever want to buy a City property with so few rights surviving?
It seems the deed that warrants, “to have and to hold, in peaceable possession” are just lines on a page.
The contractor, not only did not understand what happened to him, although he was fighting mad, but the neighbors have no sense of their own rights. Next time, it could be them.